Andalusian/Almohad/Almoravid Noble Command Vignette Base

This piece was sitting in my undercoated and primed cupboard since 2019 and was just begging to be completed. I have minor wargames butterfly tendencies, nothing compared to years ago, but still find it useful to remain on focus for major projects (Thematic Byzantines for the AHPC this year) by fliting with other periods etc from time to time. 

The vignette is specific to my Spanish 11th CE and features a Muslim Faris (Furusiyya, "Knighthood" is a martial tradition dating back to pre Islamic times) attacking a downed Frankish/Spanish knight. This piece but could sit easily in Spain or the Middle East during the 11th/12th CE as a command base or just a vignette to keep things interesting away from the main action on the wargames table.

For anyone interested in the origin of the miniatures, the Muslim Faris (Furusiyya,  Mutatawwi'a Warlord on Horse and a miniature from Wargames Foundry's Norman Spearmen Characters from their Matthew Bickley Normans range. 

The shield is hand painted. 

All the images are "clickable" for those wishing to enlarge the images. 

A Few Details- "all clickable"/Enlargeable:

Reconquista; Almoravid Ghuzz Horse Archers

It's been a month or so since my last post; the spread of the coronavirus, the lock down and the need for me to self isolate completely for medical reasons have all played their part as have the worry about my parents who usually rely on me for day to day help.

I'm sure we all have our own anxieties about the outbreak and ways of dealing with it. I have to say, I have not been coping  so well of late. That is, until I turned my hand to the brush again that some semblance of calm was achieved.

I have just finished basing these Ghuzz Horse Archers. As the (now cancelled) date for Partizan began to get closer and the sheer number of horses I needed to paint I decided to lower the overall quality and go for the speed painted option for the horse flesh with both what was left of the Islamic and Christian armies for the display game. Thus, the horses here have been painted rapidly, the horse archers less so but they were hurried along to some extent too. It is somewhat ironic that i now have all the time in the world to complete these armies!

The "Ghuzz" Horse Archers in Spain came from the Oghuz, a Western Turkic tribe. By the tenth Century Byzantine sources were calling them Muslim Turkmens as distinct from Shamanistic or Bhuddist sects. They are recorded as being present as well paid mercenaries in Almohad armies but not in Almoravid forces. I have basically extrapolated from the Almohad sources and made the decision to include them at an earlier date in the Almoravid force. They could also be reasonably pressed into any 11th Century Muslim army of the Crusades if I ever feel the urge.

Reconquista at Partizan 2020, Horse Felled in Battle Conversion

I've recently had the Greenstuff out and have been playing around with how to get a horse, in this case a Gripping Beast beastie, to look as though it has been felled in battle as i have the perfect fallen man at arms figure courtesy of Wargames Foundry. I think I have done a half decent job considering that this was the first conversion of this type that I have attempted.

The horse and cavalryman will be taking their place in the first unit of Christian Spanish which has been specifically painted up for the demo game.

I rearranged the horses front legs by cutting a small wedge shape to allow me to bend the legs further back then very carefully bent the back legs into position using a light pair of pliers and plenty of old cloth to protect the soft metal from the teeth of the pliers. Any gaps in the legs were then filled with Greenstuff. The saddle was then sculpted, with the reigns and stirrups being sculpted separately then glued into place with superglue. Any blemishes in the cosmetics were then filled with Greenstuff.

The horse was then speed painted (time is getting short!) with a group of ten other horses. It took less than the hours I managed to fit in on a Sunday to get the horses painted, though they were prepped and undercoated etc prior to painting!

Here's a few pics. I would love to hear from anyone who has any tricks or tips on how to improve the work done here.

Reconquista at Partizan, Yusef ibn Tashfin's Hasham Guard Cavalry

Finally, the completion of another cavalry unit! This time it is the turn of Yusef ibn Tashfin's Hasham Guard Cavalry Regiment.

Heavy Cavalry such as the Hasham Guard were something of a rarity among the Berber tribes thus it is likely that the guard units were specially raised and trained as personal bodyguards to the Emir, Shaykh or Sayyid.  These units would not fight in the Christian style with their increasing tendency to couch the lance but rather with throwing spears and javelins albeit mounted on very sturdy horses. It is not clear as to whether the Hasham Guard units would use feigned flight as a tactic like many other Muslim cavalry types.

The cavalrymen are all Artizan Designs but the horses are all old Musketeer Miniatures (Now sold by Footsore Miniatures) as they have a superior look to them. The Footsore Miniatures are currently OOP but I have heard that they might be available again sometime this year- those that is not from the horses mouth (sorry :>) ). I was actually really surprised to see them OOP as I know Bill the sculptor reasonably well and I know that they were a range that was very close to his heart as they a his first sculpting passion of his. The prospect of having a Caliphate range available was one of his prime reasons for sculpting the range.

I have primarily used Vallejo paint but started with a Foundry Blue for the base of the miniatures cloaks, turbans and veils. The base for the Black is Andrea black which is wonderfully matt and a great base to start with when painting up a black robe. (It must be good as they have sold out of it in the Andrea online shop!) The protective layer of varnish is Humbrol Gloss Enamel with a final spray of Windsor and Newton Professional Matt Varnish to flatten things out. I find W&N to be the best matt varnish I have tried in all my years of painting (by a royal mile!).